Review by Karl Verhoven

Following Warren Ellis on any series means big creative shoes to fill, and his outing on Moon Knight was a pithy selection. However, From the Dead ended with Moon Knight insane and vanished, from where Brian Wood picks up the plot.

He continues the path Ellis set, with single chapter stories, varying the style and pace. An opening frenetic chase across New York after an assassin is followed by a piecing together of assorted video footage, TV feeds, drone cameras, and online sharing, which combine to tell the story. Horror in Africa follows, and Wood continues the therapy sessions with Dr Elisa Warsame, who, it’s discovered has her own agenda.

In From the Dead Declan Shalvey redesigned Moon Knight, and Greg Smallwood works with those designs, both the man in the white suit and the creepy god Khonshu, endowing them each with gravitas and threat. Smallwood puts a lot of work into intricately composed fifteen panel pages, some panels connected, others independent, but covering a lot of detail. They’re especially effective on a chapter titled ‘Rendered’, in which there’s a deeper terror than super villains: “You have not been formally charged with a crime because there is no intention of ever formally charging you. There will be no trial. And as such no publicity”.

It turns out Moon Knight’s motivations aren’t unique, and Khonshu is a fickle god. Wood pulls his plot together very tightly by the end, and it’s both clever and revealing, and while they’re not as highly regarded as the previous creative team Wood and Smallwood equal their achievement. Dead Will Rise compels from start to finish, after which a new creative team follow for In the Night.